Almost two weeks ago, I turned in my resignation as a teacher. I did not want to, but my health dictated it. I can no longer manage to teach even one full day. This September will be the first in thirty years (other than four years off) that I won’t prepare a room, plan a curriculum, and welcome students.

I will miss the August teacher meetings, when we come together and catch up with each other. I will miss faculty meetings and just socializing during the course of the day with the adults in the building. I will miss the many good friends that I have made. I will miss reuniting with students and hearing about their summers. I will miss chapel and all the special events we have at the school.

The issue is that I still love teaching as much as I did 30 years ago. I love to see children enjoy learning, to see a child’s eyes light up when he or she “gets it”, and when we have educational fun that everyone loves. I am thinking of history “Jeopardy” as an example. I love hands-on projects. My favorite was mummifying cornish hens when we studied Ancient Egypt.

I find so much satisfaction in a lesson well-taught.

I find myself retired from teaching much earlier than I had hoped.

I am brokenhearted over this change in my life, but I feel like the door to teaching has closed for me. A friend reminds me that He will open a window.

It seems like my life has been changed forever since I had cancer. My future, from my perspective, looks pretty bleak at this point. However, I know that God has, for some reason, allowed my life to be like this. And even though I think it is a mess, He is orchestrating something with my fatigue, pain, and inability to do so many things I used to do. I may never understand until I get to heaven. But I DO believe with all my heart that God’s plan is always best and I am trusting Him in this.

My doctors are telling me to strip away everything but what is helpful to me. I need to get to the pool for therapy three times a week, which I am not able to do because of other activities. At this point, I am only keeping two activities that are simple, (mandolin and Bible study classes) in addition to the many medical visits, PT appointments and water therapy that I need. I will add activities if or when I can. I plan to thrive even though I have a new “normal”. I have some other writing to work on, and I love to sew and craft when I can.

That brings me to this blog. I know that I have been wishy-washy over my blog in the recent past, because I did not want to let “Grammy’s Life…So Far!” go. It takes some time to write a blog, publicize it, and develop a Pinterest board that relates to the topic. I spend three to four hours a week doing this. I love writing, but I think that I am a better storyteller than a blogger. There may be another medium that would be better for what I want to write. I don’t want to follow all the rules that make for a successful blog; I just want to tell (hopefully) interesting stories and events about women’s lives.

I will not be blogging in the foreseeable future. My blog will stay open, so that posts I have already written can be read or reread. I have enjoyed meeting new people and sharing my life with you.

I am going to make my health my “job” right now and see if I can regain some energy and reduce the level of my pain.

Thanks for reading and supporting “Grammy’s Life … So Far!” as a follower, visitor, or just an occasional reader. I have had a great time being a blogger!

Blessings to each of you!

Jan Veal “Grammy”

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2 thoughts on “A New Season in This Woman’s Life”

I am sadden by what I just read. You are a wonderful writer, however, as a blogger I totally get the work that goes into it. I am happy we are friends in real life so I can keep up with what your future holds. I can’t wait to see His plan. xo